The After Mulder Effect
by DionneDiva
Summary: Following Mulder's mysterious disappearance and presumed death, Dana Scully must care for herself and her son on her own. But when paranormal altercations occur within her new home, it appears as though the X-Files are not over after all.
1. Chapter 1

Five months**. **That was how long it had been since she last saw those puppy-dog eyes, that wry smile, or had felt those firm hands on her tiny shoulders. She missed his laugh, the way he had called her beautiful even when she was eight months pregnant. The way he had held her. The way he had caressed her.

She tried to jar these images from her mind, to focus on the matter at hand. The funeral was underway, and so was the procession of crying people whom she had invited to attend. Front and center was Walter Skinner, her boss. The bottle cap glasses he always wore reflected the dim lighting, making his eyes unreadable, although she was almost certain that she saw a fear tears welling up inside of them.

"We are gathered here today to mourn the untimely death of Fox William Mulder."

No, Scully thought to herself, we are here to waste our time. She had never been one for tears. The Navy brat almost sympathized with those who found her cold and emotionless. Of course, Mulder had never thought so. No, not her sweet, intelligent Mulder, the man who had believed and yet never been believed in himself.

The X-Files had been closed. Seeing as the section's lead man was dead, the FBI had seen no use for keeping it open. Scully could be relocated elsewhere. Of course she could have. What was the X-Files without Mulder, right? How could anyone possibly expect for her to carry on that dangerous work?

She tried to relinquish any bitter feelings as she approached the podium, tactfully preparing an unprepared speech in her mind. All she could think of saying was how Mulder didn't deserve this. He never would have wanted this dimly lit funeral parlor or that tiny patch of earth. He wanted to live, to be free amongst the animals that roamed.

Or his sister.

Clearing her throat, Scully wondered if the two had been reunited in their final resting place. Once more, that terrible twinge of jealousy. Biting her lower lip, she fought it off and said the first thing that came to mind.

"Hello."

The guests stared at her, cold, emotionless figurines dressed in suits and ties. None of them knew what she was going through, not even her own boss, the one who had supervised them. No one would ever know what she had been through, raising a son amidst her husband's death. "As you know, Mulder was a very special guy." How fake her words sounded, even to her own ears! "He graduated top of his class at Quantico…and he was not only my husband but my best friend. So when he disap—" a sharp look from Skinner made her alter her word choice. "Died, you can imagine how I felt. So, um, I thank you all for coming out here tonight."

The descent from the podium seemed to take ages. When she finally returned to her seat, she found herself more eager than ever to cradle her baby William, the only comfort she had left. Countless others took the podium, retelling stories of how they had been best friends with Mulder or else had barely known him but always admired her work. Even though she tried to laugh and smile along with everyone else, Scully felt oddly aloof. Everything seemed so faked, so cut and dry and disgusting that it made her want to run screaming from the very jail that she had been locked inside of.

At long last, the final speech had been made and everyone was preparing to journey to the burial site. Skinner offered to drive Scully there, but she calmly refused. If she could do one thing, it was drive. He couldn't take that away from her. If he did, she would more than likely lose her sanity.

"Come on, Billy," she said with every ounce of cheer that she could muster. "Let's go, honey."

The baby cooed, pointing at a nearby drapery. Scully glanced over her shoulder; no one was there. William had been acting strangely lately, motioning to random objects as though someone was there entertaining him. Disregarding her crazy thoughts, Scully fastened her precious child into his car seat before preparing to leave. As she turned the key in the ignition, a crazy thought came to her: what if she skipped the burial?

Acting upon whim, she drove off towards home, gentle music lulling her child to sleep. She found herself smiling at her suddenly jailbreak, imagining what Mulder would have said. Nice on, Scully, he would have said with a smirk, It seems I'm rubbing off on you after all.

More than you'll ever know, Mulder, she wanted to say. More than you'll ever know.


	2. Chapter 2

Scully was sitting in her comfy armchair, a cup of coffee in hand and her new cat purring softly in her lap. Adolphus had been a stray she and Mulder had discovered on their last case…shortly preceding his disappearance. As the cat had been covered in bruises and caked blood, Scully had hardly been able to turn him away. Plus, he would provide a good playmate for William. The boy needed someone other than his cantankerous mother to socialize with on a daily basis, after all.

Like the cat, Scully had recovered since the case. But the memory of what had happened still plagued her. Mulder had forced her to tag along on a case involving radiation victims living in a remote town. The sights had been harrowing. People with entire patches of skin had been missing, their raw muscles pulsating in the naked light. Her medical mind had been fascinated by them, yet her human heart felt nothing but remorse. It was days like those that made her hate the very men and women who had been trying so diligently to defend her country.

The case had ended badly, as evinced by Mulder's disappearance. Not only that, however, but someone had made a threat against their son as well. Their pride and joy had been threatened, the one cause for which Scully now lived. The woman's words still haunted her. Keep track of that baby, little lady. Ye never know when he could disappear.

A knock came at the door, jarring a flustered Scully from her thoughts. Slipping on some slippers, she hurried, peeking through the tiny door hole to see a friendly face staring back. Opening the door, she embraced her former partner.

"Monica," she found herself sobbing, "Oh, Monica, I've missed you."

Monica Reyes seemed surprised as well. Since Monica's reassignment to a new division within the FBI, the two hadn't spoken in months. Her once shoulder-length brown hair had been cut very short and dyed a frosty blonde color. Kicky new bangs streamed across her face, complimenting the woman's edgy eclectic nature. "Dana, I heard about Mulder and I am so sorry. I brought you this." A book on the art of spiritual healing. How Reyesque.

With a smile, Dana welcomed Reyes into her new home. It was mostly bare with a few pieces of furniture placed here and there, her medical magazines scattered to and fro all over the floors. Reyes looked at the place with a smile. "Looks like somebody needs an interior decorator."

Scully offered a harsh laugh. "Yeah, I know. There hasn't been much time, Mulder dead and all."

Reyes kissed her forehead. "I know, honey. That's why I wanted to take you out tomorrow."

Scully looked at her quizzically. "Monica, I've got a baby to care for, medical work to catch up on, funeral bills—"

"I know, Dana, but what good's being alive if you're not going to live?"

Scully looked at her sharply. "Now look her Monica, I can't just leave my baby—"

Monica laughed heartily, her hair bouncing as she did. "Don't worry. I've hired a babysitter." Moving aside, she allowed John Doggett to enter.

Unlike Monica, Doggett looked exactly the same. Smiling sadly, he handed Scully a small bouquet of flowers. "My condolences, Miss Scully."

Scully smiled at him. "I'm Dana now, John. You've known me long enough, haven't you?"

They all laughed. Then Monica started in once more on her previous proposal. "Come with me tomorrow, then. John's an agent. He's more than qualified for this kind of work."

Scully looked at her friend skeptically. "Where exactly are we going?"

"Out." Monica was grinning mischievously, as though she had done something horrible wrong and was proud of it.

In Scully's case, it was something horribly right.


	3. Chapter 3

Scully had to admit that Reyes' offer to get out of the house for something more than funeral business was enticing. After all, she'd been wearing the same clothes for years and her taste palettes were begging for something more than freezer dried casserole. And, like William, she needed more company. Reyes and Doggett had both eagerly complied with her request by agreeing to stay the night. It would be nice to catch up with friends.

Nursing the baby, Scully sat around the fireplace with her friends, peering curiously into their faces. Doggett kept adjusting his tie, acting as though he were in some great museum. With a smile she supposed that he was still trying to keep in pace with their typical FBI routine. It'd take him a while to get over it, she supposed. With a look at William's pale blue eyes she realized that she was more or less the same.

Monica, however, seemed quite calm in the foreign environment. She was sitting on a tiny pillow in the center of the room, feet crossed Indian style, mind focused in meditation. Her usual carefree smile was placed upon her lips, offering Scully a small bit of comfort. "Your house is very calm, Dana."

"What do you mean, Monica?" She recovered her breast once William had finished suckling.

"The spirits in it, honey. They're…welcoming. You're lucky."

Doggett quietly explained, "She's been getting more into that paranormal stuff lately. You know. Chasing spirits."

Scully looked at Monica curiously. After seeing what she had seen with Mulder, hardly anything was beyond belief for her. "Monica, can you communicate with any of the spirits in the house?"

Monica smiled wistfully. "Only they can communicate to us, I'm afraid. We're subjected to their whims. I'm not nearly powerful enough. But…we could try, if you'd like."

Scully raised her eyebrows, this paranormal jargon beginning to pique her interest. "And how might we go about that?"

"I've got a Ouija board."

"Well, I think I'd better be off to bed." Doggett had never been one for anything out of the ordinary, which made his work with the X-Files seem paradoxical. But none of it mattered now. Mulder was dead. Mulder was dead and so was everything that they had ever worked for. Except William.

Scully watched him ascend the staircase, listening to each individual step creak beneath his leaden boots. She couldn't help but wonder if he was right after all. Maybe ghost-chasing was ridiculous. In spite of her curiosity, she didn't exactly trust the supposed power of the mystical boards—especially not around her son. The thought that an evil spirit could be conjured and potentially hurt her baby sent her mind racing.

"Actually, Monica, I'd best be off to bed. It's been a long day."

Her friend looked disappointed, but she nonetheless complied and followed suit with Doggett. Left alone with William, Scully tickled the baby's adorably plump tummy. "You're a cute guy, aren't you?"

He cooed in response, his arms extending high into the air.

What bothered her was the fact that they were extending away from her. And the words that came out of his mouth were "Dada."

The words sent her into an even bigger frenzy than before. Dada. Who was he talking to? There was no possible way that Mulder could be in the room. Even if he had been, wouldn't he have reached out to her somehow? After all they'd been through…didn't she deserve at least that much?

A cry from William snapped her out of her self-pitying and reminded her that she was a mother now, not just a lover. So with his teddy bear blanket tossed over one shoulder, she carried the happy bundle with her up the stairs. She chuckled quietly when he was snoring by the time they reached the top. It hadn't been a long day for Scully alone, apparently.

"Goodnight, baby. Mommy loves you." Scully tucked the covers around the tiny form, noting how his features closely resembled both hers and Mulder's intertwined. My eyes, his mouth, she thought, what an impeccable combination. If only Mulder had been around to see him grow up…

She tiptoed to her bathroom, washing off her cakey makeup and scrubbing her teeth with a toothbrush. Mulder's toothbrush. She laughed at her obsession with the dead man. She had to move on with her life or else social services would be called before too long, she knew.

Come on, Dana, she thought to herself silently, let's get some rest. Tomorrow will be better.

Obediently, she settled herself amidst the warm covers and sheets in her bed. It had been conveniently located right across the hallway from William, just in case of a nightly mishap. But she tried not to think about those. Instead, she worked on focusing upon the fun that she would have tomorrow with Monica. Fun was an old friend she'd been waiting for years to reconnect with. The idea of their rendezvous sent ripples of anticipation shooting down Scully's spine, making her feel like a schoolgirl all over again. And, it gave her a chance to get some well-needed rest.

That was until Reyes burst in screaming.


End file.
